Infinity Blade: The Rise of Raidriar

Chapter Four

Jori stepped off the dam onto the lightly packed dirt expanse in front of the gate. There was no point in trying to sneak around, due to the open bridge, visible to the defenders of the tower. Although, so far, no one had come to challenge his approach.

Jori unsheathed the sword strapped to his back as he heard the massive, double charred-wood doors open. Out stepped a lone daeril, the monstrous human-like beasts the elite sometimes used to guard their estates. The daeril in front of Jori was at least two and a half-meters-tall, with the same soulless eyes and sunken cheeks that all these beasts seemed to possess. Its chest was exposed, save for a lone strap that wound across it to hold his warhammer. The helmet was a normal one, except for the horse's head that was attached to the top.

Jori approached the defender, instantly wishing he hadn't, when he caught the smell of a decaying horse head. Ignoring the putrid smell, Jori assumed the aegis stance, in which most daeril were trained. The beast tore the heavy hammer off its back and let out a guttural battle cry, as it charged towards Jori. As the daeril neared, bringing its massive hammer up to flatten him, Jori stepped to the side and the grotesque beast ran past him and smashed the hammer down, leaving a large crater in the soft earth.

Now behind the monster, Jori quickly made one slash, and turned the raging daeril into a two-part corpse. Turning, satisfied that he had dispatched his foe, he approached the tower once more. He entered the courtyard of the tower, and saw no other daerils.

In the center of the courtyard stood a fountain, with a statue of a knight stabbing a dragon, and water spilling out of the wound. Jori walked to the other side of the fountain, and saw another pair of double black doors. As they opened, he heard another cry from behind him, as a guard rushed towards him. Jori turned and held his sword steady as he used the man's own momentum to shove the blade through the guard's chest. Jori withdrew his blade and turned to the doors.

Two more human guards stepped out of the doorway, followed by four more daerils. Then Jori began to hear a rhythmic thump. Thump. Thump. Thump thump. Finally, an immense armored creature stepped out of the doorway, having to stoop under the eleven-meter clearance.

The first of the human guards was upon him now, and Jori easily dodged a clumsy overhead swing, and dispatched him quickly. The second guard was not quite as clumsy as his comrade, but Jori still beat him easily.

Jori stood ready for the daerils to attack him now, but they had seen the contemptuous ease with which Jori had defeated the first two guards, and they were happy to let their giant friend handle him.

The monstrosity roared and charged at Jori, wildly swinging his giant mace. Jori tried to jump back to avoid the deadly arcs of the enormous mace, but the giant kept charging forward, and knocked Jori to the left wall of the courtyard. Jori tried to stand, but crashing into the stone wall had left his legs a bit unstable. The giant guard approached him now, and brought the mace up for an overhead swing.